At Close Range (1986)

In 1978 Pennsylvania, an absentee father is reacquainted with his estranged teenage sons who become intrigued with his romanticized life of crime.

Director:

James Foley

Writers:

Elliott Lewitt (story), Nicholas Kazan (story)

Stars:

Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Penn	...	Brad Jr.
Christopher Walken	...	Brad Sr.
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Terry
Chris Penn	...	Tommy (as Christopher Penn)
Millie Perkins	...	Julie
Eileen Ryan	...	Grandma
Tracey Walter	...	Patch
R.D. Call	...	Dickie
David Strathairn	...	Tony Pine
J.C. Quinn	...	Boyd
Candy Clark	...	Mary Sue
Jake Dengel	...	Lester
Kiefer Sutherland	...	Tim
Stephen Geoffreys	...	Aggie
Crispin Glover	...	Lucas

Storyline

Based upon the true story of Bruce Johnston Sr., his son, and his brothers; together, they constituted one of suburban Philadelphia's most notorious crime families during the 1970s. Their criminal activities ranged from burglary, theft... and ultimately, murder.

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Plot Keywords:

real life brothers playing brothers | criminal | pennsylvania | 1970s | psychopath | 

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Taglines:

He's found a father to idolize, and a girl to love. Now all he still needs to find is himself.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf kurze Distanz

Filming Locations:

Franklin, Tennessee, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$180,286, 20 April 1986, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,347,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema '85, Hemdale

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The role of Brad Whitewood, Sr. was originally offered to Robert De Niro, who turned it down because he felt the character was too dark.

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Goofs

The shotgun pellet wounds on Sean Penn's face disappear almost immediately and leave no scars.

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Quotes

Uncle Patch Whitewood: [to Brad, Jr] Let's me and you go into the next room and start sniffin' some ideas.

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Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was cut by 1 min 1 sec by the BBFC to remove scenes of a cockfight. The 1986 Rank video version was pre-edited by the distributors to remove most of the scene beforehand and subsequently the cuts were reduced to 14 secs. However MGM submitted the original cinema print for the 2003 DVD release and thus 49 secs were cut from the same scene.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Celtic Price/Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie/Mrs. Winterbourne/The Substitute/Fear/Sweet Nothing (1996)

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Soundtracks

Boogie Oogie Oogie
Written by Janice Marie Johnson (as Janis Johnson) and Perry Kibble (as Perry L. Kibble)
Performed by A Taste of Honey
Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc.

User Reviews

It's in the genes.

This raw look at small town hoods brutally exposes us to a portion of society rarely depicted in movies. Souped-up cars and small time heists are nothing new, but `At Close Range' is really more ‘The Godfather' than `Bonnie and Clyde'.

Disobedient kids, worthless mom, ineffective stepfather. Every day we hear tell of it on Montel, Jerry Springer, and Sally. Here, we see it, here we live it.

James Foley does his best work here, you might think it funny to call a film with a lot of 4x8 paneling and muscle shirts ‘stylish' but this film has its own distinctive style, in many ways reminding me of Michael Mann's very stylish `Thief'

Christopher Walken is nothing short of spectacular. Both the Penn brothers (Sean and Chris) do very strong turns as sons of this verrry badddd man.

Great story, powerful performances. All too real. Even a bit of a storybook ending doesn't tarnish this one.